Simple Verticle Wind Pump for Marginal Farmers

India is full of small and marginal farmers.  If one looks at from the window of an Airplane while flying one can understand what I mean.  Millions of tiny patches of land.

These farmers are very vulnarable due to Globalisation, corporatisation and government schemes. They donot get adequate support or cooperation or price.  Every farmer has a family to support. They also supply food to us.  They are equal to petty shops or mom & pop stores in retail Industry.  They will be bulldozed by large corporates in future unless they are protected.

There are two problems they face.  One is water availability and pumping of the same (energy).  I want to solve the second one.

The below design of mine is Vertical Axis Wind Pump that can be fabricated in neighbourhood workshop or one's backyard with sufficient tools.  The design should be optimum like a bicycle.

Past several years, I have been at this R&D to find the optimal design that is simple, doable and useful.  I think I have changed design 8 times so far.  Entire R&D and prototype design has generated wealth of knowledge.    Today I have moved from R&D to Prototype and poised to enter production stage.

My first production piece has already been shipped to Theni, a distance of 1200 Kms through logistics transport. However the customer had to leave back to his work in Qatar. He has delegated installation to his brothers i guess. I had sent detailed installation videos. Hopefully they will install with some delay. 

I had meanwhile posted a vide facebook and Youtube.  Both in English and Tamil.  Refer the end of this page for links.

Youtube link in English: https://youtu.be/JoThc_noCXI

Youtube link in Tamil: https://youtu.be/M3m2znebbDk

Rest in visuals.  My pursuit started in 2016. The page is updated as of upto  October, 2021

A humble beginning.  This was my starting design. Made of plywood. Discarded due to weight issues.

My first success. The number of rotation measured by thread. 

My 2nd Design. Same plywood in V shape and horizontal. This was a successful design. Variation of this is still carried forward.

Same in action.

Added some handmade gears and motor cycle tooth wheel to extract energy

My attempt to connect with motor cycle chain, cycle free wheel, handmade gear etc.  I discarded the design
immediately after this.

I did continue the design, but replaced with clumsy gear with bevel gear
again hand made with help of lathe workshops. This was successful design
but still wanting perfection

This was stable design except for 2 important issues. I had to discard this.

Adding pump to that

Heavy monsoon impact.  Not viable design. Discarded

Then a major design change.  Now with sheet metal. 

Now with entire verticle axis rotating on two bearings with 1:1 gear at bottom.

Then a complex design of gears to pump water. This design was further improved putting lot of efforts, but I discarded later.

By experience I quickly realised that i need more "power". Therefore hereafter i started experimenting with wing design

Different wing designs, different shapes, length, weight and so on.... It was tiresome.

Therefore to make several models and test them, created a table top wind tunnel like this.  Made out of computer power module fan (12 Volt) and other material.

These experiments destroyed my pre-conception about behavior of wind and its action on objects.

These were literally applied on real prototypes

And hoisted in extreme environments to check the air flow.

From R & D to Prototype

From all the above experiments, it was decided to discard and replace every part of the windpump design. .

1. The wing design was simplified
2. The mast was strengthened using stainless steel pipe
3. The tower is tillable for easy installation
4. Finally I have discarded the traditional water pump and designed my own pump

My latest design focus on ease of packing for transport (only 5 feet), strong, can support mast upto to 20 feet or more, can be anchored to concrete slab using anchor bolts (inspired by street light design).

There are two load bearing ball bearings. Stainless steel mast will withstand wild strorm
The entire design is sleek

The wings are made of thin steel galvanised sheets used for roofing (before rolling). Edge is rolled with GI wire inside to give strength.
3 feet in lengh and 2 feet breadth.

The wings are supported by aluminium angles.  Attachment is through rivits. The crown piece shown
here is still undergoing design change.  In fact it was a failure.  But this failure allowed me to think and come with better design.

The whole tower can be tilted down often for any repair purpose. The wings can be mounted easily with screws. The final design may have 6 wings instead of 4.

This was the first run after mounting at safe height. However immediatly after this day, it was a long Corona Lockdown.  I had to dismantle to avoid any mishap due to any unprecedented cyclone wind that may blow in my absence. (I live in apartment at 1st floor. This is in 8th Floor).

By March, 2021 after the corona unlockdown, i got a call from my first customer to deliver the pump as he was in a hurry.  With no choice left to attempt any more R&D,  I had to double speed and convert / finish the prototype into a finished product. 

I had following in mind

1. Must be easy to install by DIY. This needed several design changes in last minute to make it glitch free.  For example joining the pipe segments must be easy. Joining the wings must be easy
   
   
2. Must be as compact as possible.  Frame not more than 5 feet in length.  Each pipe segment 5 feet.  Frame must be one square feet in width.  Only then it can be packed and carried in a car say to keep transport cost minimum
   
   
3. Must be error free and durable in working.  Had to do last minute design change on the pump itself which lead to an accidental discovery making it more innovative and reliable.
   
   
4. Water pump and the wind mill must be deattachable for free run when necessary. I want the windmill to rotate freely even if pump is not connected for piping or maintenance. Windmill must run without break.
   
   
5. Must be friendly to animals, birds. Hoping to install say in reserve forest for water holes. Therefore snakes, rodents should not lodge anywhere and harm themselves or the pump.  Birds should not get hit on the rotor fan.

This is the new and final Wing Design. 6 wings. each 3 feet in length.  2 feet in width folded at 1 feet middle.   Supported on 3 pairs of long threaded rods of 6 mm.  Symmetrical in shape.  The central piple will have 12 holes to be made, 6 at the top and 6 at the bottom, 1 feet below.   I hoisted this configuration and ran in extreme weather conditions. It was a success.

Finally the 6 petal windmill rotor is installed. No more looking back. Now I can focus on the pump.

This was my first custom made pump.    A prototype pump using O ring, one way values. Sleek design in PVC later to be replicated in metal. This pump design was tested for 3 months and discarded again for a more sleek model. 

A complete revolutionary idea.   This time I split the pump into two parts as shown.

• One cylinder on the left is the air piston operated by windpump to create and reduce air pressure with every rotation.  
• The cylinder on the right is a reservoyer that will suck water and expel it using two NRV valves kept in vertical position.  The weight of water will keep the valves in position.  

By isolating the air piston, i can apply grease (ball bearing red grease) for smooth functioning.

I had to compact the piston pump within the 1 square feet space below the scotch yoke mechanism that I have made out of stainless steel rods of 6 mm and matching nuts.

This way, the pump can be sealed into enclosure for outdoor applications. especially farms and forests.

Having put togather everything (illustrated here is pump before it was compacted under the frame), the water flowing for slightest of breeze. This is exactly what was to be achieved.

After this I had to put the pump togather, create installation videos and pack off the pump and send to Madurai.  As was planned, the entire pump could be packed in two pakages of 6 feet by 1.5 square feet and 4 feet by 1 square feet.  It was compact enough to be sent by any transport. Weight under 50 Kg.

A very compact design after dismantling. Ready to be packed.

Courier Pickup.  Costs a bomb these days. Need to work on this also.

After sending this pump to the first customer, and after a long gap, he sent the below picture of its installation in his cow shed

Meanwhile I further improvised the rotor and wings to suit low speed winds.  Why should i collect wind only for a plane ?. I divided a total of 9 wings into 3 layers and each layer having 3 each.  In total, the 9 wings will be each separted by 40 degrees covering total 360 degrees (40 * 9)

This configuration is so nice that even a small breeze makes it work. I could finally photograph the water flowing on its own even with small wind.  

The second change I made is in the piston.  The O ring makes only minimal contact with the cylinder. Not so suitable if cylinder is not in shape.  This is now replaced with cylinderical piston lined with foam. Low cost,  perfect solution which arrests 100% of air.  For lubrication i used boric acid (carrom board powder)

The third change is in the water pump.  The one-way valves are arranged in such a way that some weight is on top of the valve flap. Otherwise it gets opened and never closes.

The fourth and bigger change is the mounting of piston itself in vertical position. That means rotation is first converted to linear and then using bell crank into 90 degree. This arrangement will provide more sweep length for the pump.

This this new model is the final.   I have spoken with a local company (having global reach) for manufacturing at same cost. They have agreed. At present the windmill is now transported to their office/work where they will be testing this on field for some time.

The broad overview of the pump and concept is explained by me in youtube in both English and Tamil. The links are given above.

Youtube link in English:  https://youtu.be/JoThc_noCXI

Youtube link in Tamil: https://youtu.be/M3m2znebbDk